diff --git a/mediaapi/routing/routing.go b/mediaapi/routing/routing.go
index 2a65f57e3..4e37a8bb5 100644
--- a/mediaapi/routing/routing.go
+++ b/mediaapi/routing/routing.go
@@ -117,13 +117,16 @@ func makeDownloadAPI(
 		w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
 
 		// Ratelimit requests
-		if r := rateLimits.Limit(req); r != nil {
-			if err := json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(r); err != nil {
-				w.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
+		// NOTSPEC: The spec says everything at /media/ should be rate limited, but this causes issues with thumbnails (#2243)
+		if name != "thumbnail" {
+			if r := rateLimits.Limit(req); r != nil {
+				if err := json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(r); err != nil {
+					w.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
+					return
+				}
+				w.WriteHeader(http.StatusTooManyRequests)
 				return
 			}
-			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusTooManyRequests)
-			return
 		}
 
 		vars, _ := httputil.URLDecodeMapValues(mux.Vars(req))
diff --git a/syncapi/routing/messages.go b/syncapi/routing/messages.go
index 7cd54eef0..9aef5db14 100644
--- a/syncapi/routing/messages.go
+++ b/syncapi/routing/messages.go
@@ -184,16 +184,18 @@ func OnIncomingMessagesRequest(
 	// at least fetch the membership events for the users returned in chunk if LazyLoadMembers is set
 	state := []gomatrixserverlib.ClientEvent{}
 	if filter.LazyLoadMembers {
-		memberShipToUser := make(map[string]*gomatrixserverlib.HeaderedEvent)
+		membershipToUser := make(map[string]*gomatrixserverlib.HeaderedEvent)
 		for _, evt := range clientEvents {
-			memberShip, err := db.GetStateEvent(req.Context(), roomID, gomatrixserverlib.MRoomMember, evt.Sender)
+			membership, err := db.GetStateEvent(req.Context(), roomID, gomatrixserverlib.MRoomMember, evt.Sender)
 			if err != nil {
 				util.GetLogger(req.Context()).WithError(err).Error("failed to get membership event for user")
 				continue
 			}
-			memberShipToUser[evt.Sender] = memberShip
+			if membership != nil {
+				membershipToUser[evt.Sender] = membership
+			}
 		}
-		for _, evt := range memberShipToUser {
+		for _, evt := range membershipToUser {
 			state = append(state, gomatrixserverlib.HeaderedToClientEvent(evt, gomatrixserverlib.FormatAll))
 		}
 	}